The 2014 Hero Indian Super League was the first season of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

, the top flight

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The season featured eight teams, each playing 14 matches during the regular season. The regular season started on 12 October when

Atlético de Kolkata ATK (formerly Atlético de Kolkata) was an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competed in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football and were the league champions during the inaugural 2 ...

defeated

Mumbai City Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

3–0 at the

Salt Lake Stadium The Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK; ), commonly known as the Salt Lake Stadium, is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium located in Bidhannagar, with current capacity of 85,000 spectators. Named after Swami Vivekananda, the stadium fo ...

. The season ended on 20 December when Atlético de Kolkata defeated the

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

1–0. Mohammed Rafique was the lone goalscorer as the Kolkata club became the inaugural champions.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorship

Marquee players

Player drafts

Before the season began, the rosters were formed through two player drafts, based on the college draft system used in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The first draft would be to sign the initial 14 Indian players and then the second one would be to sign seven foreign players.

Domestic players draft

The domestic players draft took place within two days on 22 July and 23 July 2014 in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. There were 84 players up for grabs during the draft that could be selected between six of the eight Indian Super League teams (

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

selected from their respective

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

teams). Close to 50% of the 84 players had played for

internationally. The opening pick in the draft was

Lenny Rodrigues Lenny Rodrigues (born 10 May 1987) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Goa in the Indian Super League. Career Early career Born in Cortalim, Goa, began to develop a passion for football when his grandfat ...

FC Pune City Football Club Pune City was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra, which last participated in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football league system, under licence from AIFF. The club was founded in ...

Subrata Pal Subrata Paul (also Pal; born 24 December 1986) is an Indian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Indian Super League club ATK Mohun Bagan FC, ATK Mohun Bagan, on loan fr ...

Syed Nabi Syed Rahim Nabi (Bengali: সৈয়দ রহিম নবী; born 14 December 1985) is a retired professional Indian international footballer who primarily played as a midfielder though he could play as a striker and defender. Nabi last ...

, and

Gouramangi Singh Gouramangi Singh Moirangthem (born 25 January 1986) is an Indian former professional footballer. He is currently the assistant coach of Indian Super League club Goa. Club career A product of the Tata Football Academy, he has plied his trade ...

were the most expensive picks during the draft.

International draft

After the completion of the domestic draft, the international draft took place on 21 August 2014, also in

. There were 49 players available for selection during the draft. The first pick in the draft was former

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

defender,

Bruno Cirillo Bruno "Brunillo" Cirillo (born 21 March 1977) is a former Italian footballer who played as a centre-back. He moved clubs frequently throughout his career, spending two spells at AEK Athens and a further three years at PAOK, both in Greece, in ...

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorship

Marquee players

Player drafts

Domestic players draft

International draft

Regular season

League table

Results

Playoffs

Semi-finals

First leg

Second leg

Final

Attendance

Average home attendances

Highest attendances

Statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Top Indian scorers

Hat-tricks

Assists

Clean sheets

Awards

Hero of the Match

End-of-season awards

See also

References

External links